End of the Road
by GambitandStormGroup
Summary: A complicated soap opera featuring our favorite couple, their ex romantic ties, possible children, villains, and featuring a surprise guest author revealed at the end! Gambit and Storm pairing.
1. Chapter 1

Untitled Group Fic composed by members of the Gambit and Storm Group on Yahoo

Contributing Authors:

Macbeth, Ace, Te, Virtued Legacy, and Bastet

All chapters are labled to their respective authors.

Storyline is original to said authors. However characters belong to Marvel and are used for entertainment only. Perfectly soap opera ish- when you get this many authors on the bandwagon, it gives Days of Our Lives a run for it's money ;)

Enjoy!

- ---

Group Fic

Chapter 1 by Macbeth

-Is everything out there? - Ororo asked Jean as the redhead entered the room in a hurry.

-Yes, all the flowers are set, and the guys have just finished putting up the gazebo…

-Good-The Kenyan former-goddess stated as she made the last adjustments to the bride's dress.

-Is Remy ready yet? -Asked Rogue, or better Anna Marie soon-to-be-Lebeau, from inside her white wedding gown.

-Yes, he is, for more than an hour, actually…He's making a hole on the ground from all the pacing back and forth…-Jean stated, picking up Ororo´s task as the later went looking for the bouquet. -Do we have everything here? Let's see, something old, something blue, what about something borrowed?

-We got that already…-Said the bride pointing at Storm's ruby, which adorned the deep cleavage of the gown.

As Rogue nervously double-checked every stitch in her garments, Jean followed with concerned eyes Ororo´s motions through the room as she proceeded with her duties of bridesmaid. For some reason she couldn't keep from thinking that maybe Rogue had more than one purpose on choosing Storm for the role. Even though no one but herself had ever realized what was underneath the eternal ice on the surface, Rogue was miles away from being stupid. The resident daughter of the south must have felt something was off. Something had always been off in that arrangement, really…

Ororo in her lilac bridesmaid dress making the final adjustments to Rogue's wedding gown in the day of her marriage to the Cajun charmer was the biggest irony Jean could think of. The telepath shook her head, mentally reprimanding herself…. In any way, Anna-Marie was the one the Cajun loved…he was, after all marrying her, an event everyone had always somehow expected, even with all their ups and downs…Finally the dress was all set. Rogue got down from the little stool placed in front of the full-body mirror and turned to them:

-So, how do I look?

-You look lovely-Said Jean with her usual gentle tone.

-Ororo, what do you think? - The southern belle asked, noticing the weather witch was quiet.

-You really do look lovely…-Ororo smiled flatly- but I can't find the bouquet…

-It must be in your room, I'll…

-No I'll go.

With a pained look in her green pupils, Jean nodded at her friend knowingly.

-Ok, then…take your time, we're early anyway…

Meanwhile in the garden, Remy stood silently by the red-carpeted space where the chairs were set under the mild April sun, fidgeting his sweaty hands, visibly tense. So visibly, in fact, that Kurt could notice it all the way from the ten feet that separated them. Crossing the red patch the German approached him gently:

-You look nervous, my friend… why don't you have a glass of water and sit down for a while; we still have some time ahead of us…

-Non, merci mon ami. I don't need no water...-the Cajun drawled a couple of octaves under his usual energetic tone, shoving his hands in his pockets.

-It is ok to be nervous, Remy…

-I know…

-Just keep thinking that by the end of the day Rogue will finally be your wife…

-I'm thinking about that… Believe me, there's no other thing in my mind right now…-Unconsciously he frowned his brow and lifted a hand to his neck loosening up the tie, that for some odd reason was beginning to suffocate him.

-Want some help with that? -Smiled Kurt

-No, thanks, I'm fine… Excuse me…-he returned to the mansion, passing by the many x-men and x-students that gathered helping with the last arrangements, leaving a slightly amused Nightcrawler behind. As Kurt benevolently shook his head at how nervous a groom-to-be could get before the ceremony, the Cajun made his way inside the house, feeling something oppress his chest like a load of lead he had carried from way to long. He had to drop it, before it broke his spine once for all.

Ororo closed the door, and leant her back against it. Shutting her eyes, she let out a deep breath, relaxed as much as the tight corset that gave the dress structure allowed her to and tried to concentrate on the last preparations she had ahead of her. Keep your mind busy now, and get the blues later, she told herself in the same manner she used to comfort her students when they got nervous about an upcoming test. Stepping away from the door, she ran her hands down her dress, smoothing any wrinkle that could be visible in the lilac satin.

"That is plain ridiculous of me, like I never seen it coming…so, let me see, where is this damned bouquet after all?"

-Stormy? -A well-known dusky baritone voice called from behind her.

-Remy? -She turned to see the Cajun in his perfectly tailored tuxedo that made him look even taller than his haughty 6 feet; his hair was still somehow wild, despite the products and clean cut, but for once in a lifetime, he was perfectly shaved.

-Scott and Warren did a good job on you. You even look like a proper groom…-She let out, trying to sound playful.

- You're looking pretty fine; yourself…-He smiled down at her without much energy-Lilac becomes you…

-Thank you…bridesmaid dresses are usually so hideous; fortunately Jean managed to convince Rogue to let us choose our own dresses…-she said, forcing a smile- your tie…

-What's about it?

-Is a bit loose…here I got it-She said fixing his tie properly in place -there, you are…

-How are things in there? -He asked absently, more interested in the fluid movements of her perfectly manicured fingers and the floral scent of her hair, curled up in a French twist, ornate with lavender-white magnolias.

-She's almost ready…you should be waiting outside…

-I kinda had something important I needed to say…

-You cannot talk to her right now, you know that- She gently interrupted him, as her hands fixed his lapels, the warm feel of his chest under the dark fabric torturing her. -You will have plenty of time to be with each other later…

He bit his lower lip, drawing in a gust of air.

-Actually it was you I wanted to talk to…


	2. Chapter 2

Group Fic

Chapter 2 by Bastet (aka Elfkid on hands paused over his chest in surprise, "Oh." The last thing Ororo wanted was to have to pep talk her best friend into his marriage. It was already enough weight to be front and center as the maid of honor and conceal her true feelings behind a false air of gaiety.

"'Roro, you and me… we been friends too long… y' can drop the happy face fo' a bit."

Her heart stung and her eyes rose to meet his defiantly. "That hurts."

"Shouldn't hurt, non too much. I don' care what ya think… no, let me rephrase that. I do care what ya think, jus' don't feel the need fo' you to be the goddess in front o' me. I hate t' see y' torture yo'self."

"It is not torture. I could not live with myself if I rained on your wedding day, pardon the pun."

"I fo'give ya." He smiled half heartedly and scratched his head. "Y' know, you never tol' me exactly why y' haven't been the happiest 'bout this arrangement."

"I would think you would get the hint. Your relationship… has lasted longer than most, not that I would say throw in the towel but… from an outside view, and a friend's, it seems more of a relationship bred from familiarity anymore than true love that used to be there."

"Now that hurts."

Her eyes dropped. "I'm sorry. I should leave. Forget what I've said…" She turned to leave and he grabbed her arm, gently turning her to face him.

"Not yet, chere. I ain't mad. Can't be mad at a frien' fo' answerin' honestly when asked, neh? Now I get de chance to spill my guts." His red eyes studied her intensely for her reaction. She maintained the stone face he was so familiar with. "Dese past few months dis Cajun had a lot o' time to consider dis situation. D' y' know why she chose you as Maid o' Honor?"

"I presumed it was that even though she hadn't formed close ties here, I was the closest female tie to you whom did not desire your head on a plate."

He chuckled. "Dat's what I thought too. 'Cept den de questions came."

"Questions?" One of Ororo's eyebrows raised.

"Bout you an' me. If'n we had unfinished business… if I t'ought she was prettier… was I sure we were jus' friends. O' course I answered what she wanted but it's been nagging at me. Y' see, I t'ink she asked y' as Maid o' Honor so she could keep an eye on you, us, even, t' make sure dis conversation didn't take place. Not dat I blame her. "

The weather goddess' heart raced fast under his intense gaze as she fought to control her breathing, feeling she was suddenly under the spotlight. "Wh-where would she get ideas like that?"

His voice dropped to barely above a whisper, his eyes holding hers steadily. "I wracked my brain too as Anna is no telepath… but… she's absorbed pieces o' me. Things I've had hidden." He stepped closer to her and she took a step back..

"Remy, I'm not sure you should be speaking to me about this before your wedding. I really should go."

"I ain't married yet, 'Ro. And I _need_ to know." He stepped forward again, causing her to step back and trip and fall back sitting onto the bed. Even frightened and nervous, Ororo was gorgeous in his eyes.

"Know _what_, Remy? What do you want me to tell you?" Flustered, she raised her voice, fighting her emotions and the tears stinging her eyes.

"De truth, 'Ro, an' I don't give a damn what's goin' on t'day. 'Cause I don' believe fo' a minute dat what y' tol' me was de only reason y' upset bout dis." He placed a hand under her chin and gently nudged her up to look him in the eyes. The sun from the window was reflecting on her tears, glistening like diamonds on her blue irisis. "Y' my best frien'. And y' owe it t' me to let me know de truth. Please." He tilted forward, his mouth inches from hers.

"Ok." She whispered, closing her eyes in resignation

With that, he leaned in and tenderly kissed her supple lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Group Fic

Chapter 3 by David (Virtued Legacy)

Ororo wasn't dumb. She saw Remy's move for a kiss coming from a mile away, which is precisely why she began moving away from him. That's not to say that she didn't want to kiss him. Her very heart's desire was to feel his lips like she had before. But his words echoed in her mind's ear, "Rogue has my heart." As the kiss went on she rehashed her own words and thoughts, remembering how much she felt Rogue was a _distraction_ to Remy. Tons of emotions began swarming through her mind and heart as she remember her first time meeting Remy; she remembered how well he protected her in her regressed body, how she found trust among a fellow thief, how she was the one who always had his side even when Rogue didn't. "She wanted to keep an eye on you," – the words echoed in Ororo mind. She could mentally see Rogue's face, a smiling face finally ready for marriage. She wanted to grab that image by its corners and rip it to shreds!

Too much! The emotions were too much. They were flooding her very being with the one thing no human had ever learned how to control: honest rage. The sky turned gray and a loud clap of thunder caused such a rush that the alarm of the stretch limo waiting in front of the mansion began to sound. Remy quickly backed away from Ororo, leaving only the feeling of his lips on hers and she, with equal speed, re-gathered her emotions and the sky cleared, leaving no signs of what had promised to be a storm of great proportions.

Without warning except for a swift movement of the air, a cloud of smoke appeared and from it walked Kurt. His yellow eyes scanned the room as he approached Ororo, "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine Kurt," she lied. "The combination of this corset being so tight and the length of the gown just made walking a little hard in this cramped space. I tripped."

"Thank God you weren't hurt," he replied, helping her from her seated position. "Have you seen Remy?"

"I can't say I have," she replied and with another unexpected _bamf_ of air, Kurt was gone.

"You couldn't come up with a better lie than that, Stormy?" Remy asked, standing in the bathroom door adjacent to the room. "The regal _goddess_ and Egyptian thief _tripped_ because of a gown?"

"Remy, you need to leave."

"I don't think I want to chere," he grinned. "And I don't think you want me to either."

"Get out!" she commanded, rushing towards the bathroom door which he swiftly closed. His red-on-black eyes immediately saw a familiar-looking slender item on the closed toilet seat's lid. He began walking towards it but was thrown off balance when the door was blown open by a rush of wind and he was tossed on his butt.

They looked into each other's eyes then his gaze darted to the pregnancy test. "Your corset is tight?" He scrambled towards the toilet on all fours but a blinding bolt of lightning stopped him in his tracks when it disintegrated the test and left a smoky hole in the toilet seat lid.

"Stormy, are you pregnant?"

"Do not call me by that silly name," she said, not really refusing to answer his question because she never got the chance to look at the test. That's why she used the bouquet as her excuse to leave. But interruption after interruption…

"Who?" he asked, standing to his feet and walking towards her.

She backed up, holding up the gown on the sides with her hands. "Who what?"

"_Who_ did you sleep with?" he yelled, demanding an answer. He wrapped his hands around her biceps.

"Why does it matter?" she asked softly, her blue eyes looking down to the floor with strands of white hair escaping her up-do and falling over her face.

"What we share… doesn't it mean anything to you?" he yelled, tightening his grip on her arms.

She let go of her dress and shoved him in the chest, causing him to let her go as she yelled back at him, "Doesn't it mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does!"

"Then why don't you act like it?" she asked furiously.

"You're not making any sense, Storm!"

"Do you want me to be your number two? Your concubine?"

"Of course not! That's why I came here! I don't want you to be second…"

"Evidently I already am."

"Who was it?" he asked, completely frustrated.

"You should already know!"

"God! Whatever happened to your self-respect? What happened to you being honest with me?"

At this point Ororo became completely infuriated. "It's a great crime to lie to yourself than to lie to a friend who doesn't want to know the truth!" She slapped him in his clean-shaven face. "How dare you condescend to me! I'm not the one getting married to someone I don't know _why_ I'm marrying!"

"That's not an excuse, Storm!"

"See, that's all I am to you! I'm just _Storm_! I used to be Ororo… do you even remember who _she_ is?"

"Ororo you're taking things –," he tried to say but she cut him off.

"Get out!" she yelled, her blue eyes disappearing under a misty white cloak as she dared him to disobey.

"I don't understand how you could settle for someone you don't love," he said.

"This coming from you?" she replied in her softest whisper. He cut his eyes at her and brushed past her, leaving a heartbroken Ororo so emotionally drained that she sunk to her knees and banged her hands on the tile floor of the bathroom. Her heart was beating fast; her body was void of energy, her eyes wanting to cry, and her throat suffocating with a lump of pain that just wouldn't go away.

Jubilee's all-too-familiar high-pitched screen echoed around the mansion yard as her brown eyes fixated on the fire. Smoke billowed into the air as a frenzy of classily dressed mutants ran around, still in disbelief that this huge fire had been ignited over one of the most beautiful wedding arrangements they had ever seen.

The newly finished gazebo was up in flames, its structure ready to collapse at any given moment. The flower arrangements were non-existent, the Bible and the book of vows mere ashes on the altar. "This would be a great time for someone to put out the fire!" Hank McCoy growled, trying his best to smother parts of the fire moving towards the mansion with one of the tablecloths.

Ice-cold rain began to fall from a forming collection of heavy clouds. Shortly afterwards Anna and Jean came busting out of the glass French doors that Anna was supposed to make her bridal entry from. "Oh mah God!" she screamed, looking at the catastrophe that was supposed to be the happiest setting of her life. "Jean… what… what happened?"

"I don't know," the redhead said absent-mindedly, remembering her many failed weddings with Scott. "Why can we never have a non-eventful, happy celebration?" she whispered to herself in confusion and denial.

When the rain stopped the last flames had been extinguished, the once luscious and healthy lawn was muddy and unwelcoming, and the wedding guests were all huddled near the mansion wet and smelling of smoke.

Anna walked towards the collapsed gazebo, her make-up falling down her face with her tears and her green eyes surrounded by red blood vessels. A grimace was the sole description of her face as she looked up to an open window on the second floor of the mansion. She stared straight into the shadow-covered eyes of Ororo. She gritted her teeth and balled up her fists, her face flushed with red. However, Ororo's eyes were on something entirely different.


	4. Chapter 4

Group Fic

Chapter 4 by Te (Wahinetoa on usual growling disapproval and brooding hostility had taken a pained, longing expression as soon as his gaze touched on the Southern Belle, stalking from the mansion into her very own hellish wedding.

It was as if his gaze, his presence, changed her. Rogue aka Anna-Marie spun on her heel and turned into his strong embrace. Rough, sure hands gently holding her forearms covered in the white satin gloves, pulling her, unresisting into his body.

And -- is it Ororo's imagination, as she watches Anna fall there, almost as if she's grateful. Relieved?

An emotion sluices through Storm as she watches this scene take place.

"Has betrayal and love, made us all fools?"

Wolverine is aware of everyone's eyes on him, but he don't care. He strokes her wet cheek. Rain, perhaps? Tears? "Anna,.. Darlin'"

Anna and Logan share a look, that neither Jean nor Ororo needs to see, because it speaks volumes of itself.

The only one that doesn't, is stalking like a thundercloud of his very own towards them.

"Rogue!"

Logan sweeps the protesting belle behind him, choosing to face the Cajun's malice on his own.

"You got somethin' to say, bub?"

Gambits footfalls briefly loose their conviction, at the predatory exhibition. "Yeh, an' it between her and I, Logan."

Ororo's heartbeat doubles, her gut writhing. Damn you Remy - Don't tell her about us! Don't make us both fools!

Ororo's out of the window, drifting down before any of them notice - her faster than usual fall.

Logan's hackles rise. "Not in that tone, it ain't."

Remys eyes narrow, like a hunter staring down the barrel of a gun.

Wha' de hell is goin' on here?

His own part in this unhappy mess not so clear-cut as it was five minutes ago, when he believed he'd made a choice and it was taken from him. Ororo was pregnant. So who was the father!

He glared at Logan. The passion in his eyes, the... Was he protecting Rogue, or himself? Or perhaps... His minds eye conjured up the subtle flirting between her and Logan in the past. All the times he messed up, and Logan was there to pick up the pieces.

His gut twisted. A heated pause, dragged into unbearable accusing silence.

With a kick, Remy pushed off again from his bullish stance and headed towards Anna and her protector, determined to say his piece.

And knock them both on their as---

"Rogue!"

Wolverine had focused so intently on the bristling Cajun, that he at once believed Remy had said her name again. But he realized too late, that it was not a mans' voice, but a womans'. Ororo's.

Both men stared up in horror as Ororo and Anna Marie collided in mid-air.

The air around them forming a protective bubble, as havoc wrecked outside it. The wind picked up chairs, flowers and chunks of earth, flinging them at the mansion, at the X-men and crashing with thundering force.

Gone was Maries auburn locks, replaced by a ribbon of billowing white. Her eyes a mirror version of the struggling dark diva. Before either man could move, Jean was barring their way.

"It's the ruby, Anna is wearing. It senses Storms powers in Anna, but knows she's an impostor. It's gonna kill her and Storm, if she doesn't relinquish the gem soon." Jean yelled at them, as the world around them, rented apart. She kept most of it away from the mansion with her telekinesis.

Logan was beside her, snarling displeasure. "Why don' my Anna give it up!"

Jean ignored the "my" part of that statement and continued. "Neither of them have the strength to reach for it. You'll both need to do it for them." Jean clenched her jaw, pushing a gateway into the vortex, slowly and sure.

"Separate them now. Take the gem from Rogue, return it to Ororo. But hurry," she breathed harshly, "The goddess only serves ONE mistress!"

Inside the bubble; a battle raged as fierce as any woman had known.

Storm reached out. "Rogue!"

Anna unclenched her fists, eyes pleading. "Storm, Ah can' stop it! Da gem is killin' mah..."

Her head tilts back, Ororo's jewel digging savagely into her breast. Ororo's eyes go wide. She's never seen it do this before, but then the jewel has never had two mistress' to answer.

She has no time to contemplate, when the jewel starts cracking, fissures of black striking out like talons. Anna jack-knifes in pain, her whole body wracked with it.

Ororo cries out in anguish as her sister convulses. She has to stop this.

Storm closes her eyes, summons all that she is, focusing it till it fills her skin. She opened her eyes, gathered her own authority in the Goddess. "Cease this madness at once," she commanded. "Return to me!"

Suddenly, the talons from the ruby snap back on Ororo, acrimonious, wrapping their inky black around her. Eyes on Rogue as she slowly rights herself, the jewel resolute on punishing another. The true mistress.

Logan is beside her - his arms anchoring Marie to his granite heavy form. Claws extend, slash at the black coiling masses, till he frees her. It's then that the vortex enters the bubble, blowing them back from the safety of the eye, to the swirling mass of wreckage and ruins. Pummeled bloody by it.

Ororo needs to stop this madness, even as she feels herself being torn by her own ruby. Her headache intensified, pounding and tearing at her with furiously. In her periphery she sees the Cajun try to make his way to her. But the images of him berating her, condescending in the loft, were overwhelming her at every juncture.

The ruby crackles, magnifies the emotions and powers around them. Electricity pulsing out of its ruby darkness. She felt the power whisker between Rogue and Wolverine, her and Gambit, straining and crashing, moving the X-men back with the rest of the wedding debris, just outside their immediate circle. The wind picked up, howling at them, striking to part them.

Ororo smelt the heady stench of sulfur and ozone, signifying -- Kurt appeared in the tornadoes eye, grabbing hold of Rogue with one hand and the growling Canadian with the other. His beautiful gold eyes focused briefly on Ororo as she fought the call of the Ruby. Praying she could hold Remy in secure stead without harm, till Kurt could return.

It was then, as he teleported with Logan and Rogue, that the vortex mimicked his action, turning on its mistress in a horrific pall of dark and light.

Remy screams, throws the cards he's holding at the black ribbons sinking into her skin.

"Dieu, why isn' she fightin' dis!"

But he knew why. He swore that if he had another chance, he'd take back what he said and love her and this child. Because living without her, leaving without her wasn't an option.

The squall pushed him back, denying him to reach for her. In horror he watched her face be swallowed by the tendrils - and a chasm of light open up beneath her.

Below the xmen rallied to go into the deadly fray and save their two companions. Jean managed to discern that Rogue no longer wore the Goddess amulet, but had an oval bloody scar for her trouble wearing it. Logan was beside her, and they clung to each other like lovers.

But all eyes returned to Gambit and Storm, fighting for their lives within the pall. Kurt had managed to teleport again, just reaching the outer fringes of the bubble, when everything came to a standstill. The ruby falling to the earth at Jeans feet, shattered into a million pieces.

Then, in a sickening cold rush - the three xmen above glowed into a single light, and winked from existence right before their eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Group Fic

Chapter 5 by Ace

Ororo woke with a start, gasping for breath as the thought of herself and her two best friends merely vanishing replayed in her mind. She opened her eyes to the sight of water sluicing across a car window distorting the sight of trees as they passed by. As her grogginess subsided she remembered the happenings of earlier that day…

The whole thing was as clear as crystal, she could still feel it all; the hot gem slipping from her body, the wave of strangely cold electricity passing through her. _The baby, _she wondered_, what could this have done to the baby? _And then the feeling of empty escape, as the ruby broke and she found herself floating within the realm of her Goddess, things being revealed to her, and to her friends, that none of them ever knew. Things like Rogue's relationship with Logan; even that she had been pregnant with his child, but she had miscarried. She had been seeing him for quite some time it turned out; she had only stayed with Remy because to her he was some type of "prize" a way for her to prove to all of the other women in the mansion that she was skilled, because she had "caught" the elusive Gambit, wooer of all types of ladies—she felt her immature sense of power being jeopardized by Ororo, and Remy's feelings for her. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer…that conniving little snake" Storm whispered.

"You awake cherie" she heard Remy's familiar lilt, which pulled her from her ravine.

"Remy!" Her hand flew over her mouth as she remembered her Goddess showing her how this all began. Remy had left her just before the wedding party began; she remembered feeling his angst and frustration as she floated weightless in a separate plane of existence. He muttered curses to himself as he walked to a large old oak tree behind the gazebo, just out of eyeshot of the wedding guests. His frustration turned to anger, as it often did, and that anger smoldered within him like a passionate rage, for fear of simply vocalizing his rage and being discovered then berated with questions he truly did not care to answer, he forcefully slammed is fist against the tree, but between the force of his fist and his anger he immediately loss control of his mutation, for only one moment.

And in that moment all hell broke loose, the kinetic energy leaving his hand was transferred onto the tree as flame, the wood caught quickly, and he left just as fast, the fire began to spread; and Gambit just stood there in hiding, watching, as his commitment to love went up in smoke. And the rest was all to familiar to Ororo, the amazing release of power that emanated from her—that's what agitated the magic within the gem, that's when it knew Ororo was not present, the power was around it and not inside it.

And that's when it seemed like timed had skipped over itself, Ororo had found herself with Jean and Remy as her attic loft was torn to shreds by a very hell-bent and hypocritical Anna Marie, still in her wedding dress. The young woman screamed her hatred, and it was all Jean could do to protect a weak Ororo from Rogue's wrath.

_Ororo I fear you will have to leave this place soon, Rogue, she'll turn everyone in the house against Gambit, then you…you know the type of picture she will paint, the new ones…they'll listen to her, you'll never be trusted by them again. _She knew that before Jean ever said it, and Remy knew it too, he could sense it just by the "I'll run you through" look Logan had on his face during Rogue's cathartic "destroying" period.

Ororo didn't want to, but she knew, she knew she couldn't bear to live in the mansion with tension of this magnitude, and she knew Jean was right; Jubilee, Monet, Kitty and most of the other young ones who had been there for some time would understand, but the new ones, they looked up to Rogue, as dire a mistake as that was—and she couldn't lead a team into battle with hatred permeating the situation. "I will miss this place" Ororo sighed, as Rogue's "hissy-fit" ended and she retired to the bulky pillow that was Wolverine's arms.

"I will see you soon my sister." The two women hugged as the three of them left Rogue and Logan to simmer. Kurt bamfed in then, seeing the down trodden group in the hallway, supplying them with even more bad news. "It is utter havoc out there; you both need to get going, far away from here, at least for a while."

"Well if Gambit be leavin' he must ask his Stormy to join him." He said breaking the pattern of silence he held for most of the day.

Storm looked up at him and in a stern yet sullen tone said, "Now is not the time for name-calling and third person point of view, after all you have said to me, Gambit, and the way you have acted, why in the Goddess's name would you want _me_ to go anywhere with you."

He looked serious, sensitive, and contemplative all at the same time; "Because 'Ro, you my padnat, an' nothin' can change dat."

And that's how she found herself _in this car, in this dress, with this man_, " 'Roro, will you ever forgive me for bein' such an ass today?"

"Well LeBeau, it's not hailing, so I guess you're on the right track".

"Was that a joke chere?" he pondered.

"No, it was a sarcastic remark…and as for ass…that doesn't quite cover what you have been lately."

"I'm sorry, so sorry…it's just, the thought of another man having his hands on you just really—nags at my soul, you know."

"You do not corner the market for adult angst…how do you think I felt knowing you were going to bed with Rogue every night."

"But I'm not having her baby."

Ororo nearly cried, " Could you be more of an oaf Remy, honestly…you should know who fathered my baby better than anyone…Besides, who knows what will happen, the power in that ruby nearly killed _me_, who knows what it could have done to a child…so quite honestly—fuck you Remy LeBeau!" she spat. They drove in silence after that.

"I would have liked to have a child with you…I still would… Ororo, I love you. I can't not love you, and I certainly can't let you leave me, or let you sit there and not talk to me for the rest of your life. And no matter what happens with any of this I will love you. I'd die before I'd let that change." He spilled all of this out while keeping his eyes on the road, even as they welled with tears.

She sighed raggedly, "I know, and I do so love you Remy, but today, I had so much to think about, more emotions than I could handle being thrown at me, and you added too much to that…but I suppose I don't have to worry about that anymore." He took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly "Where are we now?"

"Someplace in Maryland."

"Where are we going?"

"There are some really mutant friendly places in Florida, and it's far enough away from all this not to worry…besides you won't have to fiddle around to much with the weather." He tried, weakly, to lighten to mood for both of them.

"Florida sounds nice…but how do you expects us to ride all the way there in these get ups" she attempted a half-hearted smile.

"We'll find a way…we always do, padnat."


	6. Chapter 6

Group Fic

Chapter 6 by Lady Macbeth

The car stopped under the bright pink neon sight. Entering the parking lot, Remy got out leaving her inside the car as he went to the reception. Ororo rested her forehead against the window, wondering how the hell did she managed to start the day a bridesmaid in Westchester and ended it in a dusty road motel somewhere along the Virginia border with the groom, almost loosing her life in between, and pregnant with another man's baby on top of it all…Maybe if she slept a little it would make more sense in the morning…

After a while, Remy got back:

-C'mon, chère…

She got her bag and the rest of the fast-food packages that lay on the car's panel, and got out, holding the same silence she had persisted in for the last hours. As they arrived the poorly cleaned and poorly decorated room, she dropped the bag and threw away their trash in a nearby trashcan.

She wished she could say something, talk; but somehow silence seemed safer…Remy sat besides her and drawing on a deep breath, made the decision for her:

-Go ahead, chère…ask.

-Ask what?

-You know…

-I don't want to ask you anything…I just want to sleep, if that's all right with you…

-Then I'll ask…why?

-Why what?

-Why did you…

-Sleep with Logan?

-Yeah…

Great. Well, he would want to know sooner or later, she might as well tell him and get it over with. If there was anything Remy couldn't accuse her of was not being straight with him.

-Comfort. -She let out dryly, like the answer was self-explanative.

-Comfort?

-Yes. It happened in the same day your wedding was announced…sympathy sex, if you will…for both of us…

-So, you had nothing with him?

-If you mean a relationship, then no, I didn't. You know, even I can have a one-night stand once my life…and to be honest, I was just so mad at you I wasn't thinking straight. I have been kicking myself ever since; not that this is any good now…

She sat down with her back against the headboard, looking up to the ceiling. Her body was sore all over, and even the silence of the dim motel room colored with the pink spectrum from the neon outside, seemed to hurt her ears.

-What about you? Why were you marrying her?

-Safety.

-Goddess, your excuse is lamer than mine, you know?

He chuckled. Lame, that was a damn good word to describe it.

-Why safety?

-Because…you know, with Rogue…I could screw up as much as I wanted, you know…we could get married and still, none of us felt like making it work. I could do whatever the shit I wanted and it wouldn't really matter, we just didn't care really…It was safe; heart-break proof… While with you…

-With me what?

-We were…perfect…you know? I felt…if things were ever to change between us…if I started something with you and then I turned out to make something stupid and loose you, I wouldn't just loose a woman…Loosing a woman is easy, I've been there before… But loosing you…I would loose a friend, a sister, I would loose the single good thing that ever happened to me…I wouldn't take it…

-Remy…

-I know…it's stupid like this…I guess, that makes me a couillon, but, I wanted things to be as they were between us, I was marrying her to keep things the way they were…I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to add you to my "women I broke the hearts of" list…I think, I spent so much time being the ladies man, that I forgot how to be a man…-he grinned painfully-But today, I realized that I wasn't going to get through with it; I just didn't have the gut… That's why I went to talk to you…And, when I saw the pregnancy test, I…I knew it was my fault, I felt you slipping through my fingers…

-I wasn't…-she confessed somberly

He turned around, rubbing his eyes with his fingers, to keep them from watering. For one long moment he just looked at her. Her head was hanging low, a hand rubbing her own stomach…He could almost hear his own heart breaking inside his chest.

-You planning on telling him?

-Not now…

-The baby…will you keep it?

-I guess I will…

-Even it being…

-Logan's? Yes…I think…

-That's good…

-You think?

-Yeah…

-Even it being…-She echoed his words with a flat smile

-I don't really care if it's his…I wouldn't think of it as his…for me is just your baby. That's enough…

She continued to massage her own stomach, biting her lower lip:

-I can't help but wonder …how are things going to be now…

-I guess the more we anticipate things the more they turn out not to be what we think, huh? -He said, placing his hand over hers, feeling something weakening inside.

-I suppose so…

-Did you ever thought about it, before? Kids?

-Yes…every woman thinks of it now and then…

-We still could have one of our own, if you wanted…we're halfway there…I mean we already eloped… - he said jokingly.

-Yes, we are only missing the trailer right now-she let out with a grin-like smile.

-So that's how you picture our future together? Good to know…so you don't think I'm not husband material?

-Well, your marital record is pretty bad so far…but if that's any consolation I do think you would make a good father….

-Yeah, that would be good-he smiled- Have a little one to take care of, teach stuff… I could finally have someone to pass on to the Lebeau Method of firefly catching…

-The Lebeau method of what?

-Firefly catching. When I was a kid I used to snick out at night to catch fireflies, around the bayou; I figured out a way to catch so many I could light up a whole room with them, I swear…That if Mattie didn't catch me first…

She laughed whole-heartedly:

-And how was it, this method?

-I ain´t gonna tell you…At least not until I make the patent.

-Of a firefly-catching method?

-If "happy birthday to you" is copyrighted I can't see why the Lebeau method can't be patented.

-That is the stupidest thing I ever heard! -She laughed beating his head lightly with a pillow. Bursting out in laughing he protected himself with his hands from the second attack, and before she could realize it he was laid back with her on top his body, his arms around her feeling how her waist was beginning to vanish, and her breasts pressed against his chest where starting to get fuller. As his eyes could see from very close now, she seemed womanlier…in a way that truly pleased him.

-So, we cool? -He said, brushing a snowy lock away from her face…

-Remy…-she began, the smile vanishing from her lips, supporting her weight on his chest with both hands and getting up.

-Ok…if you need more time…

They had stopped for breakfast on a little road dinner-place a few kilometers away from the motel, and it had been more than ten minutes since Ororo locked herself in the bathroom. The blond waitress came along with his ordering and looked down at the empty seat in front of him:

-Your wife is not eating anything?

He ignored the "wife" part (and the inner satisfaction it evoked on him) and pointed at the bathroom door:

-I don't think she can eat anything right now…

The waitress smiled in understanding:

-Morning sickness, huh?

-Yeah…

-Been there…-she smiled-how many weeks?

-Seven…-he let out, calculating by the date she had given him, surprised at his own "proud daddy" tone.

-Congratulations…Where you heading?

-Florida…

-Isn't that a little too far for a pregnant woman?

-Yeah, we're…visiting my parents…It's…huh… their anniversary…and we decided to drop by and give the news personally…-he lied, enjoying his own invention, finding it thoroughly gratifying to pretend he had a happy married life with his Stormy.

-That's what I call an anniversary gift! They'll be very happy! You know what, I'm gonna bring her some crackers and an orange juice; it might help with the nausea.

-Thank you. And, could you get a chicken salad sandwich to go…maybe she'll eat something latter…

-Sure.

As the waitress left, Remy turned his attention to his own breakfast; still savoring the sense of normalcy the story he told her had given him. Now, at the light of a new day it was very clear to him, he wanted to be this kid's father, even if it wasn't really his. He would have to deal with Logan, for sure. He was the father; there was no way to erase that. Sooner or later they would have to tie the loose ends they had left behind. But as for now he had to focus on something else…they were heading Florida with nothing but some clothes, Scott's car, and some money borrowed from professor, and she was pregnant. He had to take care of her, let her know he was there for her, make her trust him again…make her love him again. It was time for him to step forward and be man.

He was so distracted by those thoughts; it took him a while to realize his cell phone ringing inside his backpack.

"It must be Jeannie…"

-Hello…You?…Why are you calling me! No I don't…Listen I have more important stuff to worry about than…What? Come again?


	7. Chapter 7

Group Fic

Chapter 7 by Bastet

Drip... Drip... Drip... Storm sat alone locked in the bathroom stall. The drip of the faucet only punctuated the seconds of life ticking by as she waited for the 5 minute mark. She stared at the 3 inch stick on a paper towel. She felt bad having led Remy on, considering what they had been through together, but he nor she had actually seen the test. However, nothing was present to prove the contrary. She averted her eyes and studied the graffiti on the wall next to her. 'Karen loves Bill.' 'Snake Rulez.' All pointless diversions. At least she hadn't lied when she told him she wasn't feeling well.

She'd woken up with severe cramps, nothing worse than what she'd had every month, but it concerned her. Her concern came from two sources: a) she had been told at her last yearly that she had an ovarian cyst which had given her irregular cycles anyway and b) if she was pregnant, cramps were not a good sign at all.

She thought back to earlier that morning when she and Remy had stopped by the grocery store. She said she wanted a decongestant for a headache. He asked her if it was safe for her condition. Innocently, she requested he consult the pharmacist while she browsed the aisle. She didn't think he noticed the pregnancy tests behind them. As soon as he was at the counter, it was in her hands and under her skirt and held in place by her thigh highs. When he returned with an answer, she said she changed her mind and wanted to see if a tea would help instead. He muttered something under his breath about pregnant women and she remained smug. Her watch began to beep, alerting her the moment of truth had arrived. She stared at the test, not knowing what to make at the results. Relief and disappointment coursed through her. After all the kind words Remy had shared with her, offering to be the father of this child... a child they both loved... her child that never was... quietly, she wept.

Meanwhile...

"You can't be serious..." Remy massaged his eyes with his fingers as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line. A familiar voice. A surprisingly calm, even voice for what was behind it. On the other end of the line, Logan explained that Anna was willing to forgive Gambit and Ororo if they would apologize to her in person.

Rage was building in him. "If she wants to hear a damn apology, it should pass from her lips." he hissed. "She's the one that had a dish on the side. I was nothing... but... faithful to her." damn his quivering voice- how could Logan be so calm? And why the hell was he calling on Anna's behalf? He was so caught up in his anger that he hadn't notice Ororo had emerged from the rest room, a bit disheveled.

Fighting to keep his voice low, he continued to berate Logan. "You wanna talk about forgiveness, you need to apologize to 'Ro you son of a bitch. She's only carrying your child!" He was met with silence which washed a slight comfort over Remy that he had hit the bastard below the belt. Through the silence, he thought he heard a hushed conversation. "Am I on speaker phone? I hope she heard all that and ya get what you deserve!" He flipped the cell phone shut and shoved it in his pocket as he muttered a few French words under his breath that ended in 'asshole'.

Ororo approached the table, the color drained from her face. Solemnly, she grabbed the edge of the table and collapsed into the booth. "Who was on the phone, Remy?"

"Logan. Callin' to say we needed to apologize to Anna. Can you believe the nerve! And to top it off, he had me on speaker phone. I hope she heard every word that came out of my mouth."

"I did." She said dryly.

"Oh." His eyes fell. "I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as I am."

At that moment, the waitress approached with crackers and orange juice, as she had promised. "Congratulations hun, your husband told me all about your baby. And by the looks of it, it's gonna be beautiful." She smiled warmly and added before walking off, "You two need anything else, just give a holler."

Ororo stared at the juice and crackers. Come to think of it, she was feeling nauseous, but for different reasons.

"Stormy. You been cryin'?"

"A little?"

"Why you feelin' sorry? You regrettin' everyt'ing?"

"I am regretting letting things get to the point they are at now. Remy, I am not pregnant."

His jaw dropped then closed, then dropped again as he tried to form words. All he managed was a weak. "What?"

"Please let me explain."

"I don't t'ink I have much o' a choice, do I?" He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.

"When I destroyed that test, so you couldn't see it, I didn't know the results either. I was so flustered and overwhelmed with the kiss, and the revelations of the previous minutes..."

"So you let me believe y' was pregnant...!"

"I did because I beleived I was pregnant! Remy, I haven't had a period in 7 weeks. What am I supposed to think! Don't you think that if I did this to entrap you, I wouldn't have admitted to it being Logan's! It was humiliating to admit that to you. You don't think I wasn't aware of your feelings? You're the last person I want to disappoint."

"In a way, I'm glad y' not pregnant, Ororo, but I want t' go on de record dat I really meant everyt'ing I had said t' y'. Even if dat jerk didn't want y' or yo' child, I love you and t'ings dat come out of you. Well, not all t'ings..."

"I get it, Remy." She smiled slightly and he grinned, showing he was not upset with her.

She sipped her juice. "You know what?"

"What?"

"They don't have to know quite yet. They have put us through hell. Why shouldn't they have their own misery thrust upon them? Personally, I think it should be them that left the mansion. I've been there longer than that wench anyway. Yes."

"Yes what?" It was fascinating to watch Ororo carry on an entire conversation with herself sometimes.

"With this new ripple in the pond, I think Anna and Logan will be less likely to stir more trouble up if we return. After the things I've learned of the Queen of the South since the incident with my gem... There are some things that can't be disproved- especially with someone that possesses the Phoenix force- an entity that can't be fooled- to read the evidence."

"Are you saying to go back?" He raised one eyebrow.

"Yes. Call Jean. She will help us cleanse our names and standing among our friends and teammates."

"As you wish, mon cherie." He pulled out his cell phone and pulled Jean's name from the speed dial.

"Remy, let her know the whole truth. About no baby. As embarrassing as it is, she is my best friend and our only ally. We cannot keep her in the dark."

"Shhh! Hello? Jean? It's Remy..."


	8. Chapter 8

Group Fic

Chapter 8 by David (aka Virtued Legacy)

The Windrider had a lot to think about and spending time in a car with Remy on a humid day was not going to help her think – at least she wouldn't be able to think about the things that needed contemplating. So while he drove on the interstate below, she flew above, riding the wind at 60 miles per hour, her eyes clouded with white. Something about this entire situation just didn't seem right. Of course anyone in her predicament would feel awkward, but there was an extra _irk_ that caused her to wonder.

Why would Anna even care enough to forgive and forget if they apologized? Since when did Logan make phone calls for _peaceful_ resolutions to sticky situations? Come to think of it, Ororo had spent a long time trying to adjust Anna's dress. When one part was fine another part would bulge or another part would need to be tightened more. Of course it would have been hard to maintain the shape with perfection after so many days of being hidden. But wouldn't Logan notice if there was an odd… wait! Was _she_ that brilliant to be able to be in the right place at the right time at all times in order to cause the confusion but still make everything genuine?

One of Ororo's eyebrows went up and the other one went down as she tried to figure out this enigma.

Ororo replayed the night that Remy proposed to Anna. A lot of the team had been in the mansion's recreation room, just relaxing for a change. Remy and Anna came in from a long night out with smiles on their faces and a big announcement. Before they made the announcement Ororo was called down from the library, Beast wheeled in the Professor from the science lab, and Jubilee giddily pulling Logan in from outside after discarding his cigar. After everyone was stuffed into the rec. room the announcement was made and the joyful conversation began about the date.

Watching everything from her aggrieved eyes, she backed onto the wall by a window. She caught sight of Logan quickly slipping out of the room, keys to his motorcycle in hand and his other hand lifting a cigar from his pocket. There! That's it. Logan was obviously planning on going on a drinking binge for the night and he would've certainly smelled like cigars even if he hadn't because he had been smoking before Jubilee pulled him in – but he had arrived back in the mansion briefly after he left, approaching Ororo in the library. And he didn't smell of cigars.

Ororo's eyes widened and her heart began to race rapidly. "Dear heavens…" she whispered to herself. "She planned all of this. She wanted to ruin her name so we would kick her out of the mansion and the only place she would have to go is back in her arms!" Ororo shook her head. She had not been adjusting the dress on Anna's body – although somehow Anna did eventually get the ruby. Maybe after Ororo had left the room. But that's why it was taking so much effort. And of course Logan wouldn't have been able to sense it because he hadn't been at the mansion since the night of the proposal! He had been attacked and heaven knows where he was being held.

Ororo began to descend from the sky rapidly, moving towards the sunroof of the car Remy was driving. She landed abruptly, shaking him from his daze immediately. "Remy, where is the phone?" Ororo asked, frantically pushing snacks to the side. She picked up the cell phone before Remy could answer and dialed the main number to the mansion -- knowing Jean would be expecting a call.

"Remy?" Jean's voiced answered.

"Jean it's me!"

"Ororo I've been having trouble…"

"Stop! And listen to me," Ororo said, trying to hush Jean but not getting through.

"I can't find anything in Rogue's head that substantiates…"

"Jean shut up!"

"What?" Jean asked, shocked.

"It's not Anna! It's Logan – it's – Jean? Jean!"

The telephone at the mansion was gently placed down on the receiver. "Sorry I had to do this to you Red, but I've waited too long and worked too hard to get my daughter back for you to ruin it now. Once the X-Men hate her for what they think she did, I'll use this shape to get her to leave. Then as Logan I'll abandon her and finally show up as my true self. I'll finally have my daughter back and I'll be all that she has to run to." Logan's manly hands lifted Jean's unconscious body off of the floor and slung her small frame over his shoulder.

"Remy, we must move quickly!" Ororo shouted.

"What de deuce is goin on?"

The car lifted off of the pavement, the wind accelerating beneath it and behind it, as Ororo's eyes clouded over and Remy's heart began beating fast as he remained uncertain of the outcome of Ororo's sudden need for speed.

"Ororo! Talk to me!"

Ororo's hands ran through her long, white hair in frustration. "I can't believe this!"

"Can't believe what? Tell me something!"

She shook her head. "I didn't sleep with Logan…"

"But…" Remy looked at her and shook his head in confusion. "What? But you did. You both admitted it."

"It wasn't Logan. It was Mystique."

"Mon Dieu!"


	9. Chapter 9

Group Fic

Chapter 8 by Te (aka Wahinetoa)

The difference between a Lion and a lamb? One bite.

Logan floated on the dregs of the unconscious world, fighting the squall of what he knew awaited him.

Primal survival instincts pulled at him with equal fervor, and with a decisive push, his mind rallied. Propelled him out into awareness until the searing pain of his physical condition, kicked his eyes open. A growl of pain caught in his throat, pushed back down till he felt bile replace it.

He rolled to his side, body curling inward on the cold hard floor.

When the pain subsided, he remembered what brought him here in the first place.

flashback

Remy and Rogues engagement had cut him to the quick. Left him angry, confused and wanting. When he had the chance, he pulled the defiant southern belle to the side.

He'd demanded why she was doing this. She was supposed to break up with Lebeau, not get engaged. He should have realized that something was off, when she wouldn't meet his eyes. Should've known when she vehemently denied she ever loved anyone else but Remy, insisted that they had indulged in a panicked fling.

It was over. It was done.

Logan knew the first time he held her - that what he and Anna had was far more deeper than a fling, a casual anything. Damned if he knew what changed now.

Humiliation and hurt collided, and he had left in a fury to drown out the inner voices, the ones that told him she loved him. Something was wrong. Well, yeh. She was marrying somebody else!

His instincts hurled him into a brutal pall, and he intended to dish some punishment on whoever had the misfortune to cross his path. As it had turned out, not more than a few miles down the road, misfortune found him.

In the mood he was in, he'd have left the shelia and her broken down car at the side of the road. But a round posterior leaned over the bonnet of the car, calling to a richer hunger. What better way to take some of his pride back, than this?

By the time he slid from Scotts Harley and strode over to the woman, all his senses were picking up something off - it was too late. She put the whammy on him, somethin' good. From then on, bits and pieces of his predicament floated through the haze that surrounded him. His nostrils flared at a familiar scent. One that he knew, but didn't know. Rogue?

And another that was ranker, darker but it was the only thing he knew for sure.

MYSTIQUE!

"Your timing is impeccable, darling."

"And yours is biting," the other replied coolly. "Anna is in the car, unconscious. Awaiting her new memories of this horrid night, and a few of our good friend here getting laid with Ororo. Should help with the determination in her steel to marry the only man Weather witch ever loved... and lost."

"How terribly sad." her sympathy laughable. "You need to take his form, first. Return to the mansion and seduce Forges' cast off. Get me that Ruby of hers - it's the only thing that will amplify my powers long enough, to keep this charade going without telepathic detection. Then as soon as possible, switch it with this one."

Logan struggled to keep awake but he was sliding in and out, whatever whammy this bch had on him, she held the reins in tight. After what seemed like forever, the only thing he caught after, was Mystiques scent as she transformed.

"Agreed then. You'll have your daughter back. I'll get my man. And poor Ororo will suffer the consequences of reclaiming the ruby -- that will turn out to be an explosive device. It will be seen as a tragic suicide bombing. For love. For betrayal." she dismisses her false concern with a bitter chuckle. "Best thing about it, is that the press will see her as another Eastern malcontent, from Cairo. Her memory, eveything she ever accomplished with that holy-than-thou attitude will be ruined! How utterly delicious!"

Her demeanor suddenly sobers. "But first things first, Mystique. Where's the collar for our new doggy?"

The next thing Logan felt was a sharp continued stabbing of pain, from his spine down to his toes, filling his brain with nothing but agony. When he next found himself able to hear, it was only the sound of the humming machine that kept his new cell, fully secure.

end flashback.

He shook himself from the memory, re-acquainting himself with at least one harrowing constant.

Dawn encroached on unfamiliar surroundings for another week. A generic reinforced concrete cell, with an obvious modified security for his benefit.

The Shi'ar slave collar clamped tightly around his neck, kept him momentarily under the thumb of his prisonguards - of which there were only two. Given his reputation, it was a bawdy move. But the mistress of this charade was a strong telepath, possibly on the level that Jeanie was. She kept him just enough off keel, to assure his co-operation.

Aware of the fact, she couldn't enter his mind, for he and Rogue both were immune to that kind of mind invasion - she compensated by manipulating his environment, the scents and smells around him. An inky nothingness that was like solitary confinement for a man born to be wild and free. He finally understood something of what Ororo suffered with chlostrobia.

If not for his extensive martial arts training - he would have succumbed to the torment his captor chose to inflict. Not all was at a loss though, he garnered in secret, tiny bits of information of her that slipped under her radar. His dossier of her was building up, fleshing out the figure that refused to be revealed.

The hissing strain of the metallic door sliding back, shot through him. He wasn't alone anymore.

"Good. You're alive." The voice disturbingly familiar, but in a strange distorted way that made his senses ache. Rip. "Thought I might have to have you exhumed."

His muscles jumped at her characteristic mirth, flipping a single finger behind his back. He sensed rather than saw, her predatory smile widen.

"Mm. Such a temper, wee man. Comes from being so --" he recognizes her stellito clicking approach. Feels her hand brush his hair from his face and tries not to wince. Not a damn thing he could do to stop her. "-- hard."

Her sexual undertone left him sick to his gut. More than that, it was a testament she wasn't afraid of him. Didn't need to be, he was weak as a kitten and she bloody knew it.

"Sooner or later, babe," he strangled out, as she blithely rearranged his environment, causing a violent struggle within him for equilibrium. "You'll come ta regret it."

Even in his condition, such a threat wasn't taken likely. Her voice peels from darkness, his eyes closed against what he's seeing, hearing, touching.. and heaven help him, it sounds like rogue.

"Such a shame," she tsks, her fingers catching on the pale gold band around the dog tag chain about his neck, under the collar. "What love and marriage will do to a man."

There's a bitterness in her voice, that resounds inside - tempting recognition. He's so close --

"Your secret marriage is most fortuitous, however. For how better to control one of the strongest xmen, than to have the one she loves most of all, as a particular bargaining chip?" she continues, unabated by his growl. "How ironic, is it not? That after the confusion of the explosion, Storms exaggerated death swoon, her powers managed to combine with Kurts and place the very heart of my deadly ruby shard right in her heart!"

At the mention of Rogues name, the threat that awaited her, he finds the strength to move. As if he could defend her, and those he loved, from where he was.

Abruptly, his muscles scream in agony, body arching as the collar reminded him of his place here. It takes him a few minutes to resurrect himself from the sudden death she's inflicted, but, - oh yes - Marie gives him strength to fight. To win.

"Don't like it when I mention Anna. Or is it Marie, now?" She stands, quietly amused. "Don't like to hear that she's so frightened for you, for the xmen and for poor, poor orphan Ororo and her man-whore, LeBeau - that she'll cut out her own heart to secure their safety."

"Foolish child," a whisper of a cape touches his face, the threat increasing, before she leaves. "It is not her heart, than I am after."

The hiss of the door closes, leaving him to vomit the remains of his last meal over the floor.

He needed to be patient. Hope that someone at the mansion would discover both deceptions. An impostor in his form. And a telepath who is more than using Rogue as a puppet - but also as a time bomb.

Now as then, a loneliness crept in, his hand gingerly closing around the gold band, as if it would save him and his bride both. An even greater heaviness settled in his shoulders, his mind. heaving his body up, he filled his mind with the thought of Anna.

"hang on, darlin'. Hang on."

In another room, far from the one Logan was housed, the mistress' pretty manicured fingernails scrapped, wretchedly, down the stainless steel hallways to a smaller, darker cell. She punched a few digits on a security panel, and awaited while the doors slid open, then closed behind her.

In the far corner lay a close to death, Jean Grey Summers. The hooded figure, grabbed a handful of red hair in one hand, cruelly tugging Jean up from the ground. Nary a move was made from the Phoenix, much to her bitter disappointment. She would have so loved to have expressed her delight at having another guest to play with. Jean was such fun to play with too.

No matter.

Delight would come soon enough.

She spied the most offensive bane to her existence, clasped like a sheild on the Phoenixs' hand, and felt her anger build. Wrenching off the wedding band, she stared at it, as if it were a sniper ready to attack. Then her eyes softened.

"Jean with love, Scott."

How terminally sweet. Bile rose in her throat, clenched her belly into a knot. She'd make the Phoenix cow pay.

Mistress of all, she tapped the cool ruby between her breasts and allowed the power to smooth the wrinkles in the metal out. Replacing them with a new design. A new foreboding.

Perhaps love, and in turn marriage, has its strengths after all. Not the way she had believed it to be - still believed it to be, if her new xmen lovelorn toys were to go by.

Scott and Jean. Remy and Ororo. Logan and Anna.

Mystique and Anna. It didn't seem to matter that Mystique didn't know about Rogues unplanned heart condition, or the dire consequences should her heart stop or be stopped. Not even Anna knew of her predicament. With the two rebounding thieves on their way back.. and Anna blamed for the entire fiasco.. what was the chance that Anna lived long enough to find out?

A cruel smile graced her lips, before she licked them with a pleasuring mewl.

Placing the stolen ring on her own finger, she sauntered out, pleased despite the evenings slow progress. Let them both fight, it would only make it more enjoyable for her.

She tapped the ruby again, feeling the gratifying sensation as magik ran through her, warming her blood, adding to her telepathy with leaps and bounds. Her head falls back, relishing. She tapped it again. And again.

"How endearing." The mistress regarded her own reflection, imagining those she moved like puppets in the cold metal with her. "Love can move so willingly, the act of betrayal."

"In: like a Lion. Out: Like a lamb."

Red lips parted in a bitter maw, and tasted first blood.


	10. Chapter 10

Group Fic

Chapter 10 by Ace

_Mon Dieu_, Remy though as he rubbed his eyes fiercely on their way up the stone walkway to the X-mansion. _It hadn't even been three days and already 'dere's more crazy dames involved in this than you could shake a stick act. _And now after finding all this out he still would have to deal with Rogue, _Who I'm sure is still in a gloriously pissed off state. _ He and Ororo both entered the house for the first time since the "almost" wedding, and the feeling was still grim.

"I wonder if anyone else knows the events that have taken place here as of late."

"I'm sure they don't 'Roro, we are dealin' with some fairly sneaky bastards."

"Fairly?" she cocked an eyebrow.

"Alright, extremely sneaky."

"Well then, in the words of Logan, "we are royally fucked." They began to make their way to her attic loft to survey the damage left by Tropical Depression "Anna".

"I could get used to hearing you talk like that." He smirked.

"Get used to it later, we have people to save now…Speaking of, there's Rogue right now."

"What the hell is going on here? Haven't I been through enough, didn't I ask y'all to leave. Oh LeBeau! I can't believe you'd set foot in front of me with that whore of yours now!" she nearly screamed, and Ororo simply held in her anger as Remy cautiously walked ahead of her.

"Anna, I don't know who you want to be today, the pot or the kettle. But, that doesn't matter, we have something very serious to talk with you about…It has to do with Logan, and we need to do this in private…all three of us."

"What could the two of you possibly have to say to me?"

"Just come along Rogue, we don't have much time." Ororo urged, as Remy grabbed Rogue's gloved hand and ushered her down the stairs toward the car.

Once they were a good ways away from the mansion, the conversation started. "Well if we're coming this far to spill the beans then I have something I'd like to say before we get started…Remy, I had married Logan before I had ever decided to marry you."

Remy began to—but then decided, he had no room or right to be angry with her, for he knew full well that if he had gotten the chance he would have left her for Storm before this ever began…. "But then I had a talk with my momma."

"You had a talk with Mystique and didn't tell anyone about it." Ororo was flabbergasted.

"Well yes, she is still my momma and it was in the city, nowhere near the mansion…and she convinced me that it would be better to stay with you because if the time ever came for Storm the relinquish her duties I'd have more chance at gainin' power with you since y'all was so close."

_This doesn't make any bloody sense, the child is completely blinded by her mother, even for all of the tings she's done…She's such a sad girl. _Storm thought as she said this.

"Alright Rogue, I will never understand that but, I'm gonna lay this out as plainly as possible for you…the night we were engaged, Logan left the house, and never came back."

"But Remy, he's there right now."

"No Rogue, no, that's not Logan, that's your momma, Mystique."

"My momma wouldn't do that to me."

"Trust me he would, if it meant getting you away from the X-men and having you all to herself." He reasoned, Storm was still quiet.

"Alright fine, say she would…then where is Logan, who has him?" She inquired hypothetically, "The next this you'll tell me is Jean is holding him hostage the keep as some sex slave in Cape Cod."

"Jeanie's not there?" Ororo asked quickly and quietly.

"Nope, left a few days ago, told Scott she was scouting new students in New Jersey."

"Jean never scouts…only the Professor does that."

"I told you it couldn't have been my momma."

"Oh my dear, but it is your mother, and she has a new ally…Emma Frost."

"You can't be serious."

"Chere you're right, it all makes sense…Mystique wants Anna and Emma wants Scott; and they both want to see the X-men gone."

"We can't go home with Rogue; Mystique doesn't know we're back. And I'm sure Emma thinks we're dead; but someone will notice Rogue missing…Remy we can't leave those two women on the loose...what are we going to do?"

"I hope you have some friends in high places my love…because we're going to need some help."


	11. Chapter 11

Group Fic

Chapter 11 By Lady Macbeth

-Then, chère…any ideas?

Ororo stood silently for a while. They sure had gotten in the middle of something big. Mystique and Emma were the worst combination of evils she could think of, not to mention a whole house full of mutants at their mercy, an apparently half-lobotomized Rogue, and both Jean and Logan missing. Now, how do you beat a crazy telepath and a crazy shape-shifter without blowing up the mansion and everything inside in the process, was the question she posed herself.

-Let's play their game…

-Pardon?

- We'll see how far they'll go with this until they hang themselves…

-Or kill us, whatever comes first, huh? –Remy grinned

-Hey, hold your horses there, Storm! -Rogue snapped- you still owe me some explanation… For starters…weren't you supposed to be pregnant? If Logan disappeared that night how the hell are you carrying his child?

-I'm not. That night Mystique approached me disguised as Logan…I have reason to believe the subsequent events were memories implanted on my mind, while I was vulnerable, to make me believe I had slept with him.

-What for?-The southern belle asked, still suspicious.

-Do I look like I can follow your "mommas" twisted logic, Anna? To break you and him apart, I guess…the point is: those two are using us against each other to get what they want. Believe on what you want, but the more you doubt, the more Logan is at risk.

-She wouldn't do this to me…. She knows I love him…

-As I said, you're free to believe in whatever you want. After all you know your mother better than us…

Rogue lowered her eyes, fighting the idea of Mystique betraying her like that. But Storm was right at one point: even though Mystique loved her as her own flash and blood, maybe even a bit too much, she did have a very strange sense of how things worked.

-How do I know if she has him?

-Where is "Logan" right now?

-The cabin…

-Ok. I'll go over there and talk to "him". Let's make her believe she has us where she wants.

-Uh, Stormy…What about Emma? How exactly do you fool a telepath?

-Did you forget I once controlled her powers? And you can avoid telepathic powers yourself. –She turned to Rogue-You go back inside and pretend this conversation never happened. Remy you go with her and talk to Scott, tell him everything we know, but try not to make a fuss.

-Ok, but be careful…we don't need fireworks just yet…

-Logan? Are you there? –Ororo called opening the door to the cabin.

-Here. - "Logan's" gruff voice came from a nearby hard-wooden chair, half hidden in the shadows that formed inside the cabin, from the closed windows blocking the sun.

Entering, she walked up to "him".

-Where's Gumbo? - "He" asked

-In the mansion. Sorting things out with Rogue…

-Good.

-What about us, Logan? -She dared.

-Darling, I'm sorry; but I don't think there's any "us"…We made that clear that night…

-I know…but now is not just the two of us anymore…

-Yeah, Gumbo told me…are you sure about that?

Ororo looked up to meet the gray eyes looking for some sign of tension. Nothing. "You sure know how to play, Mystique".

-Yes. I took the test twice. I'm definitely pregnant.-she lied, hopping to get some reaction.

-You're sure is mine?

-Logan, are you trying to humiliate me even more? I haven't been with anyone else in the past three months! If is not yours, then whose baby is it? The Holy Ghost's?

-Sorry, darling…But I had to be sure. I mean you and Gumbo…

-Never had anything. He never touched me.

"Logan" got up and went to the front porch, a wondering expression in "his" face. Probably Mystique was considering if either this was a desperate attempt of hers to get back at Rogue by faking a pregnancy, or if she had gone plain nuts. There was no way she could be pregnant, they both knew, but Mystique had to keep in role, if she wanted her plans to work.

-We'll sort things out, darling.

-I truly hope so. -She went behind "Logan" and touched "his" shoulder, making "him" turn around. So the shape-shifter was going to play it all the way…then let the games begin, Ororo thought to herself. -Did you and Rogue talked?

-Not much…She's not really up for it right now…

-I see…and you? How are you feeling?

-I'm hanging in there…

-I still don't know why she went through with that wedding…if she was with you all this time…I just don't get it…

-Neither do I…Guess I'll just give her some time…

-Oh, my friend…-she let out, embracing "Logan", and resting her head on "his" shoulder for a long moment. Exactly as she predicted, Mystique wouldn't loose that opportunity to put her out of action. As "Logan" led his hand to her hair and pulled it harshly, reaching out with the other hand to immobilize her, she spun her body around, twisting the arm that had her hair her behind the attacker's back, loosing a couple of silvery strands in the process. Her assailant turned, breaking free, and holding her by a wrist, threw her against a wall.

-I just knew you wouldn't resist taking me down, Mystique. -Storm smiled as "Logan" turned into Mystique right before her eyes.

-You knew everything all the time. I could read it all over you. You're a very bad liar, Wind Rider.

-And you are even worst of a strategist…Rogue knows everything.

-She won't believe you…

-Keep telling yourself that.

-Can't you see, Ororo? She will believe anything **I** want her to believe. That child craves so much being loved and wanted that she'll submit to anything. Just as she submitted to that ridiculous Romeo and Juliet fantasy with the Cajun and this foolish pantomime of a secret wedding with Wolverine. But as soon as both of them desert her and the whole mansion cast her away like a filthy pariah, she will need her mom. But first things first. Let's take care of you.

-The whole mansion cast her away? -Storm echoed, trying to keep up with her delirium- are you completely delusional? The X-men will never do that.

-They will, once **your** dead body turns up in her bedroom. You understand, don't you? You're "pregnant" with her secret lover's baby, and stole her soon-to-be-husband at the day of the ceremony…and Anna does tend to be very passionate some times.

-Sounds like a plan…-Ororo grinned devilishly getting back on her feet-but you'll have to kill me first.

-No problem. -Mystique stated, shifting back into Logan´s form and unsheathing the deadly claws. Before she could reach to Storm, however, the Wind Rider had already boosted herself off the floor with a gust of wind and gone outside, taking the fight to her own territory. Following, Mystique got out, and shifting once more, this time to Rogue's form, lifted herself to meet Storm meters above.

As the sky darkened and lightening threatened to come rippling down, Mystique threw herself forward, her fist hitting Storm on the abdomen so hard the Kenyan goddess fell back hitting a tree twenty feet away. Ororo tried to hoist herself back up, but a lancing pain hit her from inside, dropping her to her knees. That punch could easily have ruptured her liver, she thought in desperation. It had been luck enough that the impact of the fall didn't break her spine. Still she got up, as the overdue bolt of lightening came down hard upon her opponent.

_Second sub-basement of the Xavier's Mansion: Cerebra_…

Storm was a tough woman, Emma had to give her that. Now things were definitely getting interesting. The Frost heiress had a big share of overdue matters to solve with the X-men's co-leader; anyway…she might just take the chance to get them over with. What had begun as a partnership of practical interests with Mystique was rapidly turning into some serious fun.

Storm was right to assume Emma's powers wouldn't reach her or the Cajun. They were both well protected against telepaths, after all the Louisiana lover boy was a powerful empathic mutant and Storm had been literally under her skin for long enough to the mechanics of her powers by heart. Never mind…when the game is too easy there isn't any merit winning anyway.

So what she couldn't play the king and the queen, she still had her pawns. And the queen was about to go down…hard.

-Come again? -Scott shook his head, sitting down on professor's chair, in the office.

-Yeah, I know is crazy. But that's what happened.

-How Storm came to the conclusion that Mystique and Emma are behind this mess?

-Apparently she felt something off with Logan, and Emma is just a very luck guess. She's the only telepath that would be demented enough to do this, anyway.

-So you think Rogue is being controlled by Emma to be a toll in Mystique's hands?

-Maybe. She looks absent, but then again that might be just Mystique's influence…

-What do we do now?

-You asking me? Stormy is there in the cabin, trying to get a hint from "Logan".

-And Jean and Logan's whereabouts? Any idea about that?

-Who knows, homme? That crazy bitch could even have killed him already for what we know…and we don't even know if she really has Jeannie, yet.

As the Cajun finished this last sentence, a guttural thunder sound reached their ears from afar, followed by the tremendous sound of falling trees

-Did you hear that? - Scott snapped getting up at once.

-Yeah. Something is happening to Stormy. - The Louisianan blurted out rushing out of the room, followed close by Summers. They rushed to the backdoor, passing through the game room, causing a fuss as both Kitty and Jubilee demanded to know what was going on. When the four of them got outside, their question was more than answered: over the trees, right above the cabin a single patch of the sky was turning a ghastly, stormy gray.

-Ok, why do I feel Storm might have something to do with that? - Jubilee let out looking up at Gambit and Scott.

-Because she does. Mystique found out she knows everything. -Remy answered, not wasting any time to go in the direction of the forming storm.

-Mystique? What Mystique has to do with anything? -Kitty asked in confusion.

-We'll discuss that later. Now Storm needs help-Scott snapped, prompting the two girls to follow him as he went after the Cajun.

As the four mutants reached the cabin, a wild tableau of broken trees displayed itself in front of them. The cabin was half-demolished, as a wooing wind made leafs and pieces of wood dance in crazed circles, lifting up columns of dust.

-Did Mystique and Storm did all of that? - Kitty asked no one in particular, her hazel eyes wide with amazement, as she used her powers to avoid getting hit by any fragments of the former-cabin.

-Yeah, people…I guess we just lost the catfight of the millennium…-Jubilee crossed her arms over her head, trying to scan the place with eyes watering from the dust, poorly disguising her astonishment. -Where are they?

-Over there! -Kitty squeaked pointing to a fallen oak tree, as the two men ran over to the spot she indicated, where Storm was tossed like a broken doll between the two separated parts of the enormous vegetable.

-Stormy! -Remy called out, catching her from the ground with extreme care. Touching her face he called again-Mon amour, talk to me…I told you not to try anything, petite…


	12. Chapter 12

Group Fic

Chapter 12 by Virtued Legacy

A gust of wind knocked Remy to the side and a voice shouted, "Move!" Remy, now on his back, looked up to see Storm quickly flying down with lightning tickling her fingertips, aiming for the fallen… Storm? _Crap!_ Remy thought to himself with a huge lump in his throat, _Mystique's taken on Storm's form. Which one is my Storm?_

The fallen Storm's body began changing form, shortening in length and becoming lighter in skin tone. Mystique took on the form of Kitty and phased through the ground just before a bolt of lightning created a deep crevice of smoke and singed plant-life. "Everyone needs to move!" Storm yelled as the dark clouds above began to swirl and descend.

"Storm! What are you doing? Are you crazy? You're too close to the mansion!" Cyclops yelled.

Jubilee's eyes glazed over and Cyclops was taken out of commission by a strong whack to the spine.

Mystique popped out of the ground in front of Jubilee and Kitty, both of them standing behind her and looking up at Storm who was now hovering in the air, watching as a fleet of X-Men came running out of the mansion, all with glazed eyes and dark facial expressions. "Remy!"

Gambit flipped off of his back and picked up Cyclops' fallen body, watching as the X-Men formed an opposing army with Mystique as their leader. His red-on-black eyes looked at each person, his heart pacing faster and faster as he imagined how this would play out: with a quantity of dead X-Men, he and Ororo amongst their numbers.

Who was going to make the first move?

"Emma! We know you are behind this. You will not win!" Ororo shouted into the air.

A chuckle came from Bishop's mouth in response, "You just don't learn. I don't care if everyone out here dies. I'll still get what I want."

Nightcrawler disappeared with a **bamf** and appeared behind Remy, kicking him in the back. The onslaught began. Remy dropped Scott's body and quickly pulled three cards from his pocket, igniting them with moving energy and tossing them at Nightcrawler. The blue mutant quickly teleported to another location, but Remy was caught off guard by a blast of pyrokinetics by Jubilee and a sudden earthquake caused by Magma. Luckily Emma wasn't as sequenced as she should have been. He remained undamaged as the earthquake moved him out of the path of Jubilee's blast.

He quickly ignited and threw cards in the direction of the two girls and the battle ensued.

Meanwhile, Bishop's guns were shooting at Storm as she did acrobatic moves in the air, dodging them, outrunning Mystique, who was in Rogue's body once more, and trying to watch out for Remy all at the same time. Focusing her blue eyes on Bishop's location she quickly flew past his location, knowing Mystique would follow. She had to be precise for this to work. As Mystique traced her path, a powerful bolt of lightning hit the flying shape shifter and knocked her out of the sky, dropping her directly on Bishop's body.

Iceman was next.

-----

Beast yawned and stood up from his computer. He placed his big, blue furry hands to his temples and rubbed them gently. He scratched the back of his neck, looked at his Microsoft Word document and pressed Ctrl+S. "It just doesn't sound completely right," he said to himself. "Maybe to many twists and turns. Or something else."

He sat back down and read over chapter 12. "This fight sequence is just too busy. I can't write everything simultaneously. It's just not working." He sighed, folded his hands and placed his chin on his knuckles.

"Hank," Jean poked her head into the library where Beast had been typing all day long. "Dinner is ready my dear."

"Thanks. I will join the rest of you in just a minute."

"You know, writing a story like that could get you in a lot of trouble," Jean smiled, walking into the library and standing next to him with her hand on her hips.

Beast grinned.

"And it's very unrealistic. I mean, me being surprised by Mystique? That just doesn't fly," Jean chuckled.

"You've been reading my --!"

"No, dear, I'm a telepath," Jean kissed his furry blue cheek. "Now let's go have dinner."

"C'est la vie. My life as an X-Man," Hank sighed and shut down the computer.

--------

Gambit laughed himself out of sleep. Ororo rolled over, placing her hand on his chest and looking into his eyes. The sun was just beginning to seep through their vertical blinds. "What's so funny?" she asked him, her eyes slowly closing.

"I just had this crazy dream," he said with a grin on his face, his voice deep with morning sleep. "Anna and I were going to get married and you were pregnant with Logan's child. But the dream was just a story Hank was writing."

"Oh Remy," she sighed and rolled her body on its other side, now facing away from Remy. "Go back to sleep."

He wrapped his left arm around her and placed his thumb over the base of his ring finger. He felt his wedding ring. "I love you Stormy," he whispered, kissing the back of her head. She rubbed her body against his, feeling his warmth and melting into one body under the sheets. She loved him too.

THE END!


End file.
